Tagged trout helping to determine trout survival

Friday

Mar 15, 2013 at 9:06 PM

Tradition has long driven the popularity of the trout opener.

By MARK SPENCLEYmark@cheboygantribune.com

Tradition has long driven the popularity of the trout opener.Trout season officially starts on the last Saturday of April, but fishing action usually doesn’t pick up until the spring waters warm a little and sediment from snow melt washes out. If an early spring develops over the next few weeks, area waters should be primed for a fast start to fishing season.If the weather and water warm during the coming six weeks, trout fishing could be more productive in the early season than is typical.According to Neal Godby, Department of Natural Resources Fisheries biologist, in years when stream temperatures warm for opening day, fish are more aggressive early on.Even aggressive trout can be tough to dupe into striking, especially early in the year, when everyone with a rod and reel gives trout fishing a go or two. Using the right bait and a natural presentation will go a long way in landing spring trout.“For fly fishermen, Hendrickson’s flies are the first big mayfly hatch of the year,” Godby noted. “Sub-surface nymphs and streamers always work good as well.”Fly fishing is the most traditional method for pursuing trout, but casting spinners doesn’t rank far behind.For spin fisherman, the usual colors and sizes will work just fine early in the season. In streams where its allowed, live bait is also effective.“Crawlers always work good in the streams where you can use them,” Godby noted. “Worms and wax worms will work too.”One of the typical challenges of early season trout fishing is the water itself, but its yet to be determined is that will be the case this year. When trout season opens, stream water levels are usually high, the result of runoff from snow melt. The weather over the next six weeks will determine is that’s the case in late April.Winter runoff also fills streams with sediment, making they murky and tough to navigate.On most streams, trout season will open on April 27.